If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Yeah man, I think its human nature. I think in the winter, in the cold, in the elements, people have a little less of a sense of security. Power in numbers kinda thing. I think EVERYONE hates crowds in the summer, but I think guys group together a bit in the winter when they don't have to just for safety and piece of mind. To an extent anyway. I know, more common than not in the winter, I am literally the only guy out as far as the eye can see. Its always nice, but its still a super erie feeling. I must admit, when I roll up to the beach and I see someone's truck I know, i get a sigh of relief and think, well at least there is one other guy out there today. I won't roll up on him at all. But having someone 100 yards away or so is a comforting feeling, especially in the winter. No guards. Empty beaches. I am always a little more sketched out and my mind wanders more when im completely alone. Just human nature I think.

The other thing I will add at the risk of sounding old........it didn't used to be this way before the internet. Even back in the 90s you pretty much recognized just about everyone in the lineup in the offseason. Before the internet you really had to be on it and live nearby to know when it was good and where it was good. Heck, I bought the house I live in specifically because of its location in relation to my home break. I also think surfers had more imagination and explored more back then. Now they just go to where the surf cams and internet tells them its good. Sucks if you live at ground zero of that ****show.

Yeah man. Every day, everyone in this country seems to have less and less time. Me included. I am a creature of habit. I would much rather know that my home spot is "okay" enough to surf, rather than driving around for 2 hours, then the tide goes wrong etc. etc. I just go where I know there is a wave. Like what people with cams do.

I wish I could get myself to say hello to everyone but I hate to say it, doing this will invite people into your space and they will take advantage of it. It's human nature to see a smile etc as weakness especially when a resource is limited. They will see you smile and say " ok this is a nice guy that I can deal with" . Best case they stay by you and share the waves. Worse case they think they are one of the gang and join in paddling for every set wave. I hate when my buddy hoots at a stranger in a crowded line up when he takes off on a wave. 9 out of 10 times the guy paddles out all puffed up and becomes a problem after that acknowledgement.

I wish I could get myself to say hello to everyone but I hate to say it, doing this will invite people into your space and they will take advantage of it. It's human nature to see a smile etc as weakness especially when a resource is limited. They will see you smile and say " ok this is a nice guy that I can deal with" . Best case they stay by you and share the waves. Worse case they think they are one of the gang and join in paddling for every set wave. I hate when my buddy hoots at a stranger in a crowded line up when he takes off on a wave. 9 out of 10 times the guy paddles out all puffed up and becomes a problem after that acknowledgement.

dannnng, yo. you really think the worst of people, based on what i just read. that's unfortunate. if a guy gets a good wave, gets barreled, completely eats sh*t, etc, a hoot is OK whether he's an uber shredder loc'd-out rode-my-rusty trombone bike to the surf, or the dork who drove from 45 mins inland to surf on a Sunday with his NSP board. as long as he/she is respectful, it's cool. everyone starts somewhere.
you think you're gonna ensure a guy doesn't get "puffed up"? LOL. it's unavoidable if the guy is a d*ck. kill them with kindness and keep them in-line respectfully. the guys who don't deserve a coveted spot in the lineup will learn eventually...it's not easy talking off deep over rocks on a bigger day.

anybody from CB NC ever meet the older gentleman who surfs around the pipe? the guy's in his 70's, wears webbed gloves, and always introduces himself by name (which unfortunately, i cannot recall at the moment).
he's cut from a different cloth in another time and managed to make me feel slightly ashamed of the wall i put up around myself in the water.

Def witnessed this guy at the pipe once for sure. Seemed welcoming to be so I simply returned his greeting and went on my way

Hey Zach 619? Your Volcom tale got me thinking. Remember Randall with the ...Lost crew. He was a classic. I don't think he surfed. He would show up at house parties with a few sponsored pros, and get so annihilated. At Surf Expo he'd be wheeling around a mobile cocktail cart, with two or three hot a$$ girls hanging on him. He had like three teeth. Anyone know if he is still alive? Now that was a fun crew to party with.

I'm just being honest. I don't think you need to stink eye anyone, leave them to drown if hurt, ignore cries for help etc. I just don't see any reason to invite strangers into your circle of friends unless they get there through the normal channels. Does anyone walk down a crowded street, smiling , saying hello, and inviting every stranger to dinner, of course not. For some reason the more crowded it it gets in the water, the more people who become involved in surfing the more we are all sold a bill of goods that this is a communal activity and all are welcome. Be honest surfing is now and has always been about the individual and getting waves. Go ahead and invite the world in, I'm happy having a few choice friends to share the waves with.

I'm just being honest. I don't think you need to stink eye anyone, leave them to drown if hurt, ignore cries for help etc. I just don't see any reason to invite strangers into your circle of friends unless they get there through the normal channels. Does anyone walk down a crowded street, smiling , saying hello, and inviting every stranger to dinner, of course not. For some reason the more crowded it it gets in the water, the more people who become involved in surfing the more we are all sold a bill of goods that this is a communal activity and all are welcome. Be honest surfing is now and has always been about the individual and getting waves. Go ahead and invite the world in, I'm happy having a few choice friends to share the waves with.

I have zero friends that I surf with regularly, and I kinda like it that way. I grew-up a 1/2 hr from the beach as a kid, so I don't have some crew I grew up with. I don't own a spot with 15 other homies. Every place I've ever surfed in NJ was never "my spot", even though I've surfed particular spots more than most of the young "locals" have their entire lives. That's the humor I find in it all. I've seen a lot of younger ripper guys pretend they run sh*t for a few years in their hay-day, then they fizzle-out after they get a real job or get fat, and then they magically don't run sh*t no more...LOL.
I've lived within a bike ride from the beach for the last 20 years or so, and I still don't consider myself local anywhere, nor do I ever want to. Maybe when I get old and crotchety and own a place somewhere tropical, then I'll be an angry ex-pat "local". I guess that's why I'm friendly. If you move around, and you travel, you just learn to be friendly out of necessity. It's humbling, and it's just habit, and I expect friendliness back.